At the global level, there are many countries marked by violence affecting health care. The 'Health care in danger' project aims to establish practical measures and recommendations that can be implemented on the ground by policy-makers, humanitarian organizations and health professionals. In view of the multiplicity of actors and latitudes concerned, it is essential to be able to make available the tools needed to make informed decisions, guide behaviour in high-risk areas and provide everyone the means to create and optimize the dialogue between humanitarian professionals and health on the one hand and relevant authorities or other armed actors. This course covers various topics such as ethics, rights and responsibilities of the staff of health and pre-hospital personnel, issues related to international law and humanitarian law, international human rights, caregivers and patient safety as well as the role of communities to address and reduce violence against health care.

From the lesson

Module 2: The legal framework on the protection of health-care delivery

Today, an elaborate international legal framework exists whose aim is to guarantee protection of patients and health-care providers from violence in armed conflict or other emergencies. However, violence against patients and health-care providers remains a sad reality in such situations. Still, it is important for those who have an influence over the respect for the law, like State authorities, State armed forces, armed groups or members of communities, as well as for health-care professionals or those who will become health-care professionals themselves to identify who has to follow the law, what the rules describe and when they apply. A better understanding of the law may contribute to better behavior on the ground, if there is general willingness to comply with legal rules. For health-care professionals, the law may be a tool that can be invoked towards authorities, armed forces, armed groups and others for more effective protection. This module should contribute towards these aims by identifying international legal rules relevant to the protection of patients and health-care providers and pointing towards legal and practical challenges in their implementation.